Waiting areas
Waiting areas are the secure, private video rooms in which service providers consult with service users
A person who is seeking care or advice from a service provider via video call. A service user may be a patient, client, consumer, citizen, or similar.. They have been designed to mimic workflows in the physical world, where:
-
a service provider, such as a government department or a medical practice, has a building with regular opening hours
-
service users register their arrival and go to a waiting area
-
when the service provider is ready, they invite the service user into a private area for the appointment.
In the video call management console:
-
waiting areas can have 'opening hours', just like in a physical workplace
-
service users open a link to register their arrival and create their own secure, private video room
Note: For group consultations, service users do not create their own rooms. They wait in a group waiting area. For more information about group consultations, see Call types.
-
when the service provider is ready, they join the service user's private video room and run the appointment.
Service users can access video call waiting areas in two ways:
Transfer from another waiting area
Waiting area link
When a service user makes a video call appointment with your service, they will need to receive the link to the relevant waiting area. Each organisation manages this differently, but within each waiting area, there are two buttons you can use to send the link:
-
Share link to Waiting Area: Allows you to send the link via text message or email, or copy it to your device's clipboard.
-
Caller Information Leaflet: Allows you to download a PDF file containing the waiting area link and instructions for starting a video call.
The same link is used for all service users who attend a specific waiting area. When the service user enters their name and other personal information, it creates a private, secure, single-use video room. Only the service provider and anyone explicitly invited by the service provider can enter the room.
Transfer from another waiting area
If a service user needs to be seen by a service provider in a different waiting area within the same organisational unit, they can be transferred. For information on using the transfer feature, see Transfer a call.
The service provider transferring the call must have the service referrer role in the waiting area they want to transfer the call to. For more information, see Roles and permissions.
Waiting area list
If you have been given access to a particular waiting area, you can see a list of service users who are waiting, and select the one you need from the list. See Start a call for more information.
